There are two systems of conveyancing, unregistered and registered, and the difference is how the seller proves their ownership of (or title to) the property being sold and are therefore allowed to sell it.

Get your conveyancing quote now!

With unregistered land, the seller proves their title with conveyances or other documents (title deeds) going back 15 years which demonstrate that every seller at the time was allowed to sell to their buyer. This is known as a chain of ownership. In other words, if Kumar is selling unregistered land in 2012, he has to show that he bought it from the previous owner who also bought it from the then previous owner and so on, going back 15 years. Of course, whilst it makes sense,  this process is unwieldy and expensive because all title deeds have to be carefully stored and produced each time the property is showed. As a result, the Government brought in a system of registering land so that it maintains a database of who owns what. If the property is registered with the Land Registry with the seller listed as owner, then you can be reasonably sure that the seller is allowed to sell the property. If there is a difference between the name of the seller and the name of the registered owner, say because of marriage, death or some other reason, it is relatively easy to check whether the seller is allowed to sell.

However, it has been made compulsory to register unregistered land whenever the owner changed, only since 1998. So if it turns out that the property is not registered with the Land Registry yet, then the seller will have to demonstrate their title as outlined above.

The conveyancing process starts once the buyer’s offer on a property has been accepted by the seller. It can be divided into five sections. The first, and usually the longest, is the pre-contract stage, followed by exchange of contracts and then pre-completion. At the end of pre-completion, the transaction is completed and the property changes ownership from seller to buyer. The fifth stage is post-completion, which is very much legal tidying up, such as registering the buyer’s purchase with the Land Registry; it does not prevent the buyer from moving into the property. From offer to completion should take on an average eight to 12 weeks, but sometimes it can take longer.

Of course, because of the legal nature of the process, it is usual for the buyer and the seller to instruct their own solicitors (though there is nothing stopping you from acting for yourself). It is possible that the estate agent dealing with the property may suggest a solicitor, but it is your decision, and it is recommended that you request quotations from two or three solicitors before you decide.

Choosing the right conveyancing solicitor is important when you consider buying or selling any property – residential or commercial. There are many tasks that the conveyancing solicitor will help you with:

• Legal advice
• Preparing draft contracts
• Local searches
• Mortgage offer
• Survey
• Exchange of contracts
• Funds collection and transfer
• Managing stamp duty charges
• Land Registry formalities

As you can see, there are many legal and administrative tasks involved in buying or selling property. The right conveyancing solicitor will help you handle these formalities with ease.

If you decide to go at it alone, it may take a considerable amount of time and energy. Not to mention the possibility of getting the legalities in a muddle. Of course it makes sense to hire a conveyancing solicitor, the question is how do you find the right one?

Here are some tips to help you find the right conveyancing solicitor for you.

1. Look for a specialist property conveyancing firm

Ideally, the conveyancing solicitor that you choose must specialise in property conveyancing. If the firm has a separate conveyancing department, it is a good indicator that they do a lot of property conveyancing work and they may be a right fit for you.

2. Choose a firm that will give you a dedicated case worker

Coveyancing firms typically operate in two different ways – they either have a “team” where the formalities are carried out in an assembly line fashion, or they have a dedicated case worker who is assigned your particular case. The latter is a more personal approach and enables you to have direct access to whoever is dealing with your case. Since you deal with just one person, there is better communication and work moves along faster.

3. Fixed fee conveyancing

Budget is of course an important consideration when you choose the conveyancing solicitor. If you choose a firm that charges an hourly rate, you run the risk of going above your budget. A fixed fee approach works best.

Also read: Is cheap conveyancing beneficial for customers?

4. Professionalism

Of course this is a no-brainer, but it is surprising how often buyers and sellers overlook this crucial element. Choose a conveyancing solicitor who is professional and pays attention to detail. Things like sending an introductory letter upfront which describes the conveyancing procedure and the costs involved, availability at all times to discuss particulars, willingness in providing information etc. are indicators of how professional the firm is.

5. Registered conveyancing solicitor

It is necessary that the conveyancing firm is registered with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers. It is worth checking, especially if it is a firm that you do not know much about.

6. Check out their website

Once you shortlist a few conveyancing solicitors, you may want to visit their website. Many conveyancing firms offer an option for prospective clients to request a conveyancing quote through the website. Once you enter the purchase amount and a few other details, they will generate a conveyancing quote which should give you an idea of the legal expenses involved and the solicitor’s fees for buying a house.

The right conveyancing solicitor will carry out the work efficiently and eliminate the stress factor involved in moving into a new property. Spend some time to figure out who would be the right one for you.

Actually, conveyancing has become much simpler now since there are more registered titles than unregistered titles. High volume conveyancing with electronic communication and technology also seem to help firms save on cost as well as face-to-face time.

However, if you do not know where to look, you may find yourself in trouble by choosing a cheap conveyancer. To be on the safer side, following are a few questions you should definitely ask to your conveyancer before instructing:

• Demand a full quote with all legal fees, disbursements and stamp duty expenses. Confirm with your conveyance that you won’t have to pay anything extra that what is listed out in the full break down of charges.
• Ask what’s the average time required for the completion of transaction.  Generally, your transaction should be completed within 4 to 6 weeks.
• Experience plays a vital part in quality. So, check about the total years of experience of the firm before instructing. Needless to say, firms with over ten years of experience would obviously look more trustworthy than a firm that started last year.
• Having a dedicated conveyancer is vital to the timely completion of your transaction. Check if you will have one.
• Make sure that you will have direct line access to your dedicated conveyancer.
• Ask where is your conveyancer located, and is it possible to meet the conveyancer in person, if found necessary?
• Check if you will be given online case tracker access and SMS update to know about the progress of your transaction.

If you don’t get satisfactory answers to all questions above, we would suggest you start looking for a better one.

Of course, cheap conveyancing sounds attractive. But, you should be aware about the risk involved as well:

• Cheap solicitors may advertise services for £100. But, the actual fee you would pay would be much more than that – thanks to the cleverly constructed hidden fee trap.
• Most cheap solicitors are usually overworked and will be too busy to give you any personal attention, which obviously result in ruining your peace of mind.
• Cheap convyancers, being busy with bulk work, may not be up to date with the status of your transaction because they will have hundreds of others to deal with. Needless to say, the time taken for case completion will be much longer too.
• Most cheap conveyancing solicitors are new in industry. In an attempt to decrease the price, they are compelled to employ inexperienced legal assistants too. The end result is: your documents are handled by inefficient people that may result in collapsing of the deal.

• Cheap services would not be able to provide you dedicated conveyancer that cause too many practical difficulties.
• Cheap conveyancers may not be able to provide you online case tracker and timely updates via SMS or Email, which compel you to chase the conveyancers always to know the progress of your case.

The choice is yours!